Start By Removing Your Old Doors

To remove an old door you need to separate the hinge (which is attached to the door) from the backplate (which is attached to the cabinet). It is no good just undoing the hinge screws and removing the door from the hinge, leaving the hinge still attached to the cabinet, you should detach the hinge from the hinge backplate.

How To Separate The Hinge From The Hinge Backplate

The way that a hinge attaches to the back plate varies depending on the type of hinges that you have. They may be clip on hinges which generally have a little button at the back of the hinge, that you press to release the hinge from the backplate. They may be screw on hinges, in which case you need to loosen the screw at the back of the backplate and the hinge will slide off or lift off.

Tip - Unclip The Bottom Hinge First

Its important when you remove the door to unclip the bottom hinge first. If you unclip the top hinge first then the door could drop off while you are trying to release the bottom hinge whereas if detach the bottom hinge first, the top hinge is still helps to support the weight of the door. It may also be advisable if the doors are quite large or heavy to get someone to help you to support the weight of the door while you do unclip the hinges.

If you are going to reuse your existing hinges then what your need to do now is to put old the door on a bench, remove the two screws that secure the hinge to the door and remove the hinge. Also it’s worth removing the handle at this stage so that’s not in the way.

Fit The Hinges To The New Door

To fit the new door, start by fitting the hinges to the door. Place the hinge into the hinge hole on the back of the door, making sure that the hinges are fitted level, so that the arm of the hinge is at a right-angle to the edge of the door. Next drill two 2mm dia pilot holes.

You can use the hinge screws that we sell on our website to fix the hinge to the door. These are countersunk wood screws which are 31⁄2mm in diameter and 15mm long.

Having attached the hinge on to the door you are now ready to attach the door onto the cabinet. Alternatively, if you are planning to replace the hinges (which is our recommended option) please refer to our guide on fitting new hinges.

Fitting The New Door

Offer the door up onto the cabinet attaching the top hinge first as this will help support the weight of the door. Then connect the bottom hinges.

If you find the hinges don’t quite line up with the back plate, simply adjust the back plate position slightly, moving it up or down as required to get the position just right.

This is normally done by loosening off two screws on the back plate.

Some back plates have an adjusting screw in the centre that moves it up and down - take a look at how yours actually work.

If, having loosened the backplate fixing screws you find that the backplate refuses to move, you may need to give it little tap with a hammer. If it’s a traditional type plate you should find there is plenty of adjustment in the back plate to allow that to move up and down.

After connecting the hinge to the hinge backplate it is important to check that the hinge is securely attached, otherwise the hinge may become detached in use.

As with removing the doors, we suggest getting some help to support the weight of the door whilst you attach the hinges to the backplates.

Fitting The Handle

Adjusting The Hinges

Once the handles is fitted you are ready to adjust the hinges, however we suggest not adjusting the hinges until you have fitted all the doors . Please see our guide on how to adjust hinges.

Fitting Drawer Fronts

Replacing and fitting a new drawer front will vary depending on the type of drawer boxes that you have. The methods of fixing drawer fronts are numerous. However, in simple terms look at how the drawer front detaches from the drawer box and then follow the same steps in reverse to fit the new ones.

If you are planning on replacing your drawer boxes, (which we strongly suggest) please see our guides ‘How to fit the plywood drawer boxes’ and ‘How to fit soft close drawer boxes’.